In 1980, Julian Simon offered to let doomsayer Paul Ehrlich choose any commodity metals he liked, and if their inflation-adjusted prices increased by 1990, Simon would pay $1000. But if they fell, Ehrlich would pay. The question was: would human ingenuity figure out ways to conserve on these metals, and/or find substitutes for them? By 1990, all five metals had fallen in price, and Ehrlich paid up. What does it all mean? That's what we discuss today.

It's episode 500! Incredible. Today I spoke with two good friends, whose opinions I value highly. We discussed everything from politics to advice for young people, and from our strengths and weaknesses to our favorite memories. Please join me for this special episode.

Every once in a while we hear it said that Saddam Hussein did have weapons of mass destruction after all, and that this discovery has been drowned out by antiwar propaganda. Scott Horton joins us to dig out the facts of the matter.

The topic of a "constitutional convention," or more properly an amendments convention, convened by the states under Article V of the Constitution, is hotly disputed among people who want to limit government. Is it the only way to make things better, or could it lead to making things worse? Our two guests engage in a spirited debate in today's episode.

Fortune magazine took a bit of a swipe at me this week, taking aim at my defense of the free market in the face of the comments of Pope Francis. I devote this episode to a full-fledged response. Lots of anti-Austrian misconceptions dealt with here. Enjoy!

A century later, Woodrow Wilson's international crusading lives on, both in the establishment left and the neoconservative right. Paul Gottfried and I paint a picture of Wilson that's a bit different from what we all learned in school.

Today I discuss the concept of social justice and compare it to the traditional conception of justice that was taken for granted in the Western world for thousands of years. I take some shots at John Rawls along the way.

In this episode I discuss with Richard Emmons of the Ron Paul Homeschooling podcast my course Western Civilization to 1492, which consists of 180 video and audio lessons. We cover the ancient Hebrews, Homer, the pre-Socratics and Socrates, the Roman Empire, and early Christianity, all the way through Scholastic philosophy and on to the Renaissance.

Today we learn about the heroic sixteenth-century figure Juan de Mariana, who taught that regicide could be justified and that inflation was theft, and who anticipated important concepts central to the Austrian School of economics.

There's nothing conservative about the neoconservative worldview, says Professor Claes Ryn, author of the withering study The New Jacobinism. We get into the weeds of the neoconservative phenomenon in this provocative discussion.

I've written and spoken quite a bit about nullification, but my guest today, Sheriff Richard Mack, says it's also up to the local sheriff to prevent federal officials from harassing citizens. This one's a must-listen for sure!

One of the areas of economics to which Murray Rothbard contributed significantly is known as welfare economics. As we explain in this episode, it deals with how we can determine whether utility (individual or "social," properly understood) has been increased. Rothbard's analysis led him to the conclusion that it was impossible for state action to increase social utility.

Free-market economist Bryan Caplan, in his famous article on why he isn't an Austrian, argues that Rothbard's solution is riddled with problems. Jeff Herbener joins me for a robust defense of Rothbard.

Country after country is scrambling to deal with the thousands of refugees pouring into Europe. But the neoconservatives are also taking the opportunity to argue that if only the West had intervened in Syria, the situation would never have deteriorated to this point. Daniel McAdams joins me to evaluate this story.

By popular demand and at long last, the great Jim Rogers joins the program today. We discuss China, India, Africa, the financial crisis of 2008, whether central banks have everything under control now, and how to decide where to put your money.

Euro Pacific Capital CEO and bestselling author Peter Schiff takes listener questions today and paints us a picture of what's happening in the economy and what individuals can do to weather what storms may come.

The cost savings and improvements in health-care quality that can be realized when a physician escapes the crazy system we have now, which people mistakenly think is a free market, are staggering. Today's guest shares with us how he does it.